Union Dumpling House

Great addition to the neighborhood! The service was great and we felt welcome from the moment we walked in. We ordered through an iPad at the front, then went to our table and waited for the order to be ready. Very cute covered and heated back patio! The dumplings were delicious and fresh (we had the pork and chives). We also tried the spicy wontons, and they are very recommended for those who like the spice. I'll definitely be back!

I was really excited to try this place, but unfortunately it was a big disappointment. It was my first visit and I had questions about the menu and wanted recommendations, but ordering is only through a kiosk, which makes it impossible to ask staff for help. Despite being completely self-service—you place your own order, get your own water, chopsticks, and pick up your food when your number is called—a tip is still required, which felt inappropriate. I waited over 20 minutes for my food. When it finally arrived, the chicken dumplings looked unappetizing. The filling was a pinkish color that appeared undercooked, which was concerning (they assured it’s because of the spices they add). On top of that, I noticed the person making the dumplings was not wearing gloves, which made me uncomfortable from a food-safety perspective. Tbh, I only ate it because I was very hungry after the gym, but it was not an enjoyable or reassuring experience. Overall, between the lack of service, long wait time, and questionable food quality, I wouldn’t return or recommend this place.

I have been to a handful of dumpling places in Chicago, and this one's definitely up there. I will be a returning customer. The dumplings are made in house from fresh ingredients, and cooked just right. Staff is super friendly. Warm and welcoming atmosphere. Besides dumplings, their chocolate bao is a must try. The filling has a unique crunchy texture and is not too sweet.

Paid a visit recently and they were great! Was greeted warmly upon entering and we ordered for takeout at their kiosk. The wait for the food was about 15 minutes, give or take, which was not bad at all considering how good the food was once we tore into it immediately upon arriving home. My only recommendation is that if you order the crispy pork bites, to eat it right away because they did become slightly soggy during transit and were not at its crispiest once we got to them. But overall, fantastic experience trying out a new location with good food and good service. Cheers!

I went to Union Dumpling and tried the lamb & cilantro dumplings, pork & shrimp dumplings, and the wood ear mushroom side, along with the digest brew drink. Everything was so fresh and delicious! The staff are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet—they create such a warm, welcoming atmosphere. 10/10 would definitely recommend!

So happy to have a dumpling place in the neighborhood! I ordered the spicy potato salad, cucumber salad, and lamb and cilantro dumplings. Everything was fresh and the dumplings were so soft and juicy! Including pictures - I already ate a bit on each of them. It’s cool to watch them cook as well. There’s more seating in the back and they have a patio as well. I’ll be back VERY soon!

Came on a Friday night. The dumplings were so yummy. I really appreciated all the vegetarian options! My partner had the pork buns and he said they were just okay. The wait staff were really friendly and nice. Appreciated that they gave us an estimate for how long our order would take and passed out free samples as well. I’m really rooting for this place (big dumpling fan) and wanted to give some constructive feedback to help them improve: 1. It would be great for this place to become more of a dine-in restaurant with full service vs solely self-service. The self-service set-up is great for those ordering to-go, but it kinda diminished the vibe of the restaurant overall for dining in (e.g., having wait staff walk around calling out names, seeing the screens with order numbers, needing to bus your own tables/get your own water, etc). I’m not against more casual dining, but the prices and large restaurant space feel like it should offer a nicer experience. Perhaps a better balance can be struck. Overall, I would come back for take-out but likely not eat inside again unless changes were made. 2. Upkeep of the place could also be improved. Many of the tables in the back were somewhat dirty, and the self-service water stands they offered ran out. Would be great if more drinks were available for ordering (like tea). Would also love to have reusable water cups and soy sauce dishes for dipping the dumplings instead of using a plate. Overall I really enjoyed the food and will be back for takeout. I’m so happy to see a dumpling place in Lincoln Square. Also happy to see they’ve incorporated feedback from other reviewers and hope they continue to improve as they get more established. Still rating 5 stars to help in the mean time. :)

Ventured into Union Dumpling House during their soft opening. OMG these are some of the freshest, cleanest dumplings & dishes I’ve had! You can watch them making dumplings fresh per order! Particularly loved the 🥟 Chicken & Mushroom - steamed, create your own dipping sauce with a combo of soy sauce, vinegar, & chili oil 🥟 Chive & Egg - abundantly fresh chives with fluffy egg, pan fried 🍘 Beef & vermicelli steamed buns 🌊 Seaweed salad 🍄‍🟫 Wood Ear mushrooms 🥛 Fresh chilled soy milk Because they make everything fresh and are still in their soft opening, give yourself a little extra time for the meal. It’s totally worth it!

I was excited to try this new dumpling restaurant in Lincoln Square. The friendly staff greeted us, explained how everything worked, and offered us samples. You can order from the QR code at the table or the kiosk at the front. After you order, you wait for your number to be called to pick up from the window. Everything was self-serve including water. There are lots of seating in the back. They even have a heated patio. It would be great for larger groups. We ordered the beef and onion dumpling (12pc), pork and chives (12pc) and lava xiao long bao (5pc). My favorite was the beef and onion dumpling because it was like a soup dumpling. We had it pan fried for an extra $1. Be careful with this one because the juices will squirt out. Pork and chive dumpling was good too. You will taste the chives. The lava xiao long bao was good too but the insides weren't filled like the photos. The filling size was similar to the dumplings. It had a sweet flavor to it. I would say that 12 pc dumplings would be filling for one person. It's a lot of pieces so my friends and I decided to share so that we could try different flavors. It's a good place to come for some quick Asian food. I'm glad there's more Asian eats opening in Lincoln Square!

The people are incredibly nice and I want this to work for them. First time we went, waited 45 minutes for one order pork and chive and shrimp pork and chive dumplings. Both came out partially cooked. Sent back and asked for them to go. Got home and found two orders of partiality cooked shrimp dumplings. Decided to try again. Ordered for pickup and it said ready in 10 minutes. Arrived at 10 minutes and waited another 15. Dumplings were hardly warm 5 minutes after pickup and uninspiring. Decor is very cafeteria like with screen kiosk ordering. Not worthy of $20 orders of dumplings. Love the concept and really wanted to like it.

We've been excited for the dumpling house to open. We did takeout and ordered from home and walked to pick it up'. The food was ready 10 minutes before the pick up time so that was a plus. The food was still hot when we got home. We ordered the beef and green pepper dumping and beef bao. The dumplings ate delicious and we enjoyed them. The bao was also good but didn't stand out like the dumplings did. We will be back

Give Union Dumpling House a try! My wife and I are big dumpling fans. These are as they advertise some of the cleanest healthiest dumplings you'll eat and I think they're right on. All hand made in house with really clean ingredients. We've been going since they opened and I have seen really great improvements in their service speed to get food out without compromising quality . Very friendly staff . Dumplings , the Bao are all great and they also have good soybean milk .

We decided to give this place a shot since our kids like dumplings. So surprised how good these were! They have so many options to pick from and also Baozi options as well. We chatted with the owners who were Chinese native from the region known for this type of foods. I also love that the soy milk you can get completely sugar free. The quantity and quality were both good, and I think it's worth the price. They also sell frozen ones too, making it super versatile if you want to cook it at home. We will definitely be back!

We got chicken and cilantro, and beef and celery--both were delicious. Chicken and cilantro was especially good. It took about 20 min for food to come out which is expected something is hand made. Will come back again!

Lots of room for improvement with Union Dumplings. The staff member at check-in was super friendly. You order on a kiosk and then wait for your number to be called. One set of dumplings was a bit cold in the center. The other dumplings (chicken) had good flavor. It appears that they are hand making them fresh and walking them over to the kitchen area for boiling. However, the man touching our dumplings was also touching his phone directly - kind of gross and unsanitary! I wish I liked the experience but I think they have some hygiene issues to work on.

I stopped by with a friend today for lunch as we were craving dumplings. There are a few kiosks at the front where you can order, but you can also order via QR codes on the table. We shared the lamb and cilantro dumplings (boiled) and shrimp and chive dumplings (fried), and we both got a soy milk. The lamb dumplings were not my favorite, but the shrimp dumplings were okay. The wrapper was a bit too thick for my liking. My favorite was probably the soy milk. The total came out to be $60 including tip which I felt was a bit pricey for below average dumplings. And had I known there was virtually no service (you have to pick up your order and clean your table after), I probably would not have tipped 20%.

The dumplings were pretty good. We had the chicken and cilantro dumplings w/ garlic cucumber salad and wontons. The dumplings are very tasty and so were the wontons but I didn't particularly like the garlic cucumber salad as much as the traditional cucumber salad. We wanted to try the beef buns before we headed over to the Davis to catch our movie but it took quite a long time for our order & the wait wasn't worth it. They were okay but not for the price. They charged about $12 for 2 small buns. This is a good byob option but just so you know it's self serving for the most part.

Clean and efficient interior with a surprisingly charming back patio (heating lamps are a huge plus). Service was very warm and friendly and the food is perfect for a cold day when you want something comforting and savory.

Took 40 minutes for dumplings. Very disappointed. Will not return I walked in on a Friday night with 1 person ahead of me. And for some inexplicable reason they took 40 minutes to make 12 dumplings. I could've driven to H-mart, bought the ingredients, made my own dough, and still had time to spare

The good: the fillings are freshly handmade and generously portioned (you can see them making it through the window into the open kitchen). They give you good soy and vinegar to mix for your dipping sauce, as they should - how many places don't do vinegar is surprising, but Union does. The bad: when I went, both dumplings (pan fried shrimp, pork, and egg, and boiled lamb/carrot) were really undercooked. It was most noticeable in the pan fried version, where the dough was still raw enough to show my fingerprints in the pillowy part and be crunchy in the pinched part. We sent them back to be re-cooked, which they did immediately with many apologies, and when they came back out they were - still exactly the same amount of undercooked. (They were different dumplings too - we knew because they accidentally switched which dumplings were fried and which were boiled. That's fine of course, just mentioning that they took the time to make entirely new ones for us.) I might still return to see if they've worked this out, and/or stick to boiled dumplings, because I did like the filling and I tend to have a lot of time to kill in Lincoln Square between Old Town School classes.

We've been very excited for this spot to open up and are pleased to have good quality dumplings in the area. We ordered for delivery so I can only talk about the quality once we received our food at home. I would say it's not the same as QXY but the dumplings are still high quality and very good. We ordered the triple combo, lamb and cilantro, as well as pork chives and shrimp. Wonderful flavor for all of them, the lamb was out of this world. Can't wait to visit next in person and try more combinations!

Dumplings were very good. I thought the order was way too big for one person but they were so good I ate them all myself. Chocolate sesame buns were also very good. I'd love to see a dumpling variety plate to try a few different ones.

We got a warm welcome from the staff when we arrived and an invitation to try a sample. It was neat to see visibly making the dumplings. I was expecting a sit down restaurant at the price point but one thing to know it that the ambiance is very casual - plastic forks and plastic cups for water, QR code menu and you will pick up your own trays and bus your own table so not a date night spot. I like the creativity in the dumpling options. I would've like if they were served more steaming hot.

A solid 4 stars. Dumplings were great and portions generous. Cucumber salad lacked the sharp vinegar flavor I like but I think that's more a Taiwanese flavor. Some growing pains (no chopsticks and flimsy forks) and a somewhat awkward layout of the front of the restaurant - the back area is a little more inviting to sit. Overall, will be back to try again and great to see another option in the neighborhood.

We were 4 people and my daughter and we ordered the family package and it worked out perfectly for us and we had leftovers

We tried a sample during a street fest so we decided to go back. While the dumplings are delicious- we got the sample platter- the wait time for takeout was 35 minutes. The ambiance of the interior is not what we expected and it seemed to make the wait longer than it needed to be. This is not a done in location, for sure. The lighting is direct- and very very bright. There are carts and supply boxes all over the floor/ Eating area. There's a bar, but it's very unwelcoming to sit at due to excessive clutter. There are freestanding kiosks- and once you order, your number goes on a screen. None of the order numbers disappeared during our stay. Very strange place. Delicious dumplings but not sure I would return....

I don't leave a tip because they expect you to bus your own table which irritates me, and you order on a screen. Dumplings are ok. It's basically a carry out place.

Nice vibe, fresh dumplings made daily and friendly service. I ordered the spicy wontons and shrimp dumplings to go. Wantons had a nice flavor but the dough was thick and threw off the filling ratio. Shrimp dumping's were much better having a better ingredient ratio and overall flavor. I will be coming back to try more options off the menu.

I will say the dumplings are very good and made fresh. It is counter service so it is great as a quick bite. My issue is that the smallest quantity of dumplings you can order is 12 of one kind. That is a lot for one person to it. It would be great if you could order in 3's and 6's so you could try more than one flavor of dumplings. Also more variety of dipping sauces they only has one and it was really spicey. I would have like to see some sweet and sour available.

We were excited to try this restaurant in our neighborhood and maybe being excited was the mistake. The ambiance is a cross between a fast food restaurant and a cafeteria. We ordered one order of buns and one of dumplings to go. We waited in the restaurant for 20 minutes and decided to go have a drink across the street...25 minutes later we came back and our order still was not ready. We ended up having to wait 51 minutes for an order of 2 menu items! Was it worth it? No...nothing special about the food. We won't be back and recommend you think twice before ordering from Union Dumplings House!

I got vegan dumplings to go and they were delicious. I would like to see a more cozy dine-in atmosphere to order in, but the take out was good.

I've been twice. Both times the dumplings - all the food really - was super fresh and tasty. You can see the dumplings being made. The chocolate sesame baos were good - not too sweet. They;re new and still working out some kinks. I'll definitely be back.

Well made, hand crafted dumplings. Reminds me of the dumplings I ate growing up. Good flavor and texture. Highly recommend!

Our party of 6 adults and 6 kids tried almost everything on the menu and we loved everything, particularly the pork and cabbage dumplings, spring roles and cucumber salad. Despite the fact that it's self-service, we felt very welcomed by their hospitable staff. They even threw in some chocolate buns and blossom tea to go for a child who was feeling under the weather. We will be back!

Was not my cup of tea. The interfacing with a screen to order and mediocre dumplings did little to recommend this restaurant. May work for others who have lower expectations of what a good dumpling is and prefer not to have small talk with a server. It just is a dining hall with an oversized television with senseless programming in the background. Wonderful setting for those who prefer to wear their noise cancelling headphones and interact on their own electronic devices. Has the ambiance of circus less dining hall for those who prefer to chew, swallow and go.

No complaints. Food came out quick and fresh. The pork buns are massive and the filling was tasty

Good dumplings. Friendly people. Great place to grab and go or eat in the back. Big space in the back.